Furnace



June 17 1924'.

J. R. KNOPF' FURNACE Filed Apl il 28 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTEIR m-ATTORNEY June 17 1924. 1,498,515

, J. R. KNOPF FURNACE Filed April 28, 1922 A 2 Shee.s-Shee( 2 HE. 2' Imvgmua WNW I ATTDRNEY Patented June 17, 1924.

' UNITED STATES PA-TENTIIOFF ICE. f

JULIUS R. KNOPF, F CORAOPOLIS, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE J. HAGANCOMPANY, 01* PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLV'A NIA, A CORPORATION or PENNSYLVANIA.

FURNACE.

Application filed April 28, 1922. Serial No. 557,126.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JULIUS R. KNOPF,

' residing at Coraopolis, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, a citizen of the United States, have invented ordiscovered certain new and useful Improvements in Furnaces, of whichimprovements the following is a specification.

In the practice of the processes of sherardizing and calorizing it isthe practice to pack the metal articles to be treated with the treatingmaterial in a drum which is then placed in furnaces. wherein it is so,-

supported that it may be rotated. As the drum is usually of considerablelength, in some cases about sixteen feet, and when charged is veryheavy, it is not practicable to insert it longitudinally in the furnace.It is therefore the practice to em loy a furnace having a removable topWhlCh must be removed whenever a drum is removed and another placed inposition. As the furnace is quite long the cover is necessarily made insections,- thus adding to the labor when .charging the furnace.

The invention described herein has for its object a combination offurnace into which a car havin suitable supports for a drum can be movedlongitudinally into and out of the furnace with the drum in positiontherein. It is a further object of the invention to provide for theautomatic connection of the drum with power operated means for rotatingthe drum. The invention is hereinafter more fullydescribed and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification Fig. 1is 'a longitudinal sectional elevation of a furnace embodying theimprovements claimed herein; Fig. 2 1s a view partly in end elevationand partly in section of the construction shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is asectional view and Fig. 4 is an elevation showing the manner ofdetachably connecting the drum to its operating mechanism. a

In the practice of the invention the furnace is made of any desiredlength and width dependent upon the dimensions of the drum emplbyed andhaving a permanent or non-removable roof 2. One end of the fur- "nace isopen and through this open end extend rails 3 which support the wheels 4of a car 5. On the deck of the car are secured means for rotatablysupporting the drum 6,

as for example, spaced pairs of rollers 7. The members of each pair ofrollers are spaced such distances apart that while supporting the drumout of contact with the deck of the car, they will prevent any lateralmovement of the drum. Means are, employed for preventing any movement ofthe drum longitudinally of the car,'a suitable means for that purposeconsisting of a peripheral ridge 8on the a plurality of suitably I drumadapted to extend into grooves 9 on a pair of the supporting rollers.

Any suitable means heating the drum, such for example aselectricallyheated elements 10 arranged along a wallof the furnace preferablydirectly opposite the drum as s own in Fig. 2. The side walls of thefurnace are provided with inwardly projecting ledges 11 in linehorizontally with the deck of the car, said deck being made of a width alittle less than the distance between the inner faces of the ledgeswhich together with the deck form' the bottom of the heating chamber.The entrance of cold air through the spaces between the ledges and deckis prevented by a seal consisting of troughs 12 containing sand or othersuitable material secured to the car below the deck and plates 13secured to side walls of the furnace and extending into the material inthe troughs. L

The heating chamber or the portion of the furnace above the deck isclosedby a door 14 preferably hinged to the deck of the car as shown.While any suitable means may be employed for holding the door in closedposition, it is preferred to employ a construction which will also'holdthe car from rearward movement. A suitable con-' struction to that endconsists of screws 15 carried by yokes 16 pivotall mounted on thefurnace walls, and lugs 1; on the door. en a car is to be withdrawn fromthe furnace the screws are turned back and the yokes turned out to shiftthe screws from the path of movement of the lugs as the car is movedout. When the car is moved into the furnace and the door turned up, thescrews are swun inward over the lugs, so that by turning t escrewsinwardly against the lugs the door will be forced home. It will beobserved that the door is so mounted that it cannot be' turned beyond avertical position by.means of the bearin of its lower edge on the car,and hence i the car may be employed for has not been pushed fully Withinthe :furnace, the pressure of the screws on the lugs will force the carto its proper position, which is determined by the stops 18 secured tothe rails 3.

In order to effect the turning of the drum on the rollers, a shaft 19having one end secured to a head of the drum is made of such lengththat;the shaft will pass through an opening in the rear Wall of thefurnace and into driving engagement with a sprocket wheel 20 rotatablymounted on the rear wall of the furnace and adapted to be driven throughthe chain 21 by a motor 22 preferably of the electric type.

It is preferred to connect the sprocket wheel 20 which is looselymounted on an annular projection 22 secured to the outer wall of thefurnace by means of a spider 23 having an externally circular socket 24and internally shaped to have a driving engagement with the end of theshaft 19 which in the construction shown has a squared end portion afitting thesimilarly shaped opening in socket 24. It is preferred thatthe arms of the spider should be detachably connected to the sprocketwheel and driven by lugs 25. K

.In some processes it is desirable to supply gas to the drum while beingheated andto this end the shaft 19 is made hollow and is adapted to beconnected at its outer end to a supply and outlet pipe 25.

I claim herein as my invention:

1. In an apparatus for heat treatment the combination of a furnacehaving an open end, a carrying member movable through said open end intoand out of the furnace and a drumrotatably mounted on the carryingmember. 7 p

2. In an apparatus for heat treatment the combination of an open endedfurnace, a carrying menibenmovable into, and out'o-f the furnace, a doorfor closing the open end of the furnace supported by "the carryingmember, and a drum rotatably mounted on the carrying member.

. 3. In an apparatus for heat treatment, the

, tating the drum arranged ing the rotating means to t eatre combinationof a furnace, a carrying member movable into and out of the furnace, adrum rotatably mounted on the carrying member, means for rotating thedrum arranged outside of the furnace, and means for detachablyconnecting the rotating means to the drum extending through a Wall ofthe furnace.

4. In an apparatus for heat treatment the combination of a furnace, adeck or bed movable into and out. of the furnace, and adapted to formthe bottom of the heating chamber of the furnace, and a drum rotatablymounted on the deck.

5. In an apparatus for heat treatment the combination of an open endedfurnace, a deck or bed movable into and out of the furnace, and adaptedto form the bottom of the heating chamber of the furnace, a doorpivotally connected to the deck or bed andadapted to close the end ofthe heating chamber and means for locking the bed and door in operativeposition.

6. In an apparatus for heat treatment the combination of a furnacehaving an open end, a deck or bed movable into and out of the furnaceand adapted to form the bottom of the heating chamber of the furnace, adoor for closing the end of the heating chamber movably mounted on thedeck or bed, means for holding the door and bed in position within thefurnace and a drum rotatably mounted on the deck or bed. i

7. In an apparatus for heat treatment the combination of a furnace, adeck or bed movable into and out of the furnace and adapted to form thebottom of the heating chamber of the furnace, a drum rotatably mountedon the deck or bed, means for rooutside of the furnace and means foroperatively connectthe drum such operative connection beingautomatically effected by the movement of the deck or bed to positionWithin the furnace.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

JULIUS R. KNQPF.

